Bangor removed two downtown public restrooms this week after years of misuse by homeless drug users and tens of thousands in wasted taxpayer funds.
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“Given the ongoing challenges with the Harlow Street and Broad Street locations, the decision was made during a City Council budget workshop in June to remove the units. Those two units were removed this week,” said the city in a press release on Tuesday.
The two removed restrooms were installed in 2024 using $250,000 in American Rescue Plan Act grant money. With those funds, the city purchased six public restrooms, but only four of them were ever installed.
According to the Bangor Daily News, the city has needed to replace five doors and 170 hand sanitizer dispensers on the two downtown restrooms just in the past year.
In a June memo, the city planned for a $200,500 appropriation just to maintain the existing restrooms.
The same memo revealed that police responded to the two downtown restrooms an estimated 29 times in the first six months of the year for calls related to vagrancy, welfare checks, and drug use.
In May, Maine Wire reporter Jo Sokol visited the downtown restrooms and confirmed concerns about the units when he discovered trash and needles in and around them.
The city has finally decided to take action, and the two downtown restrooms have been removed from their concrete foundations. The other identical restrooms at Coe Park and Cascade Park will remain in place.
As an alternative to the downtown restrooms, the city pointed residents toward the restrooms at the Bangor City Hall and the Bangor Public Library.
Poor graham platner. Now where can he go for his fun time.